1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a golf ball placement device for placing golf balls.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Golf is a popular sport throughout the world and continues to grow in popularity. Golf is also a demanding sport which requires regular practice in order to maintain and improve the skills of a golfer. In addition to playing rounds of golf on a golf course, golfers often practice regularly by hitting balls at a practicing facility.
When practicing their driving at a driving range, the golfers must place a golf ball for a shot. Manually placing a golf ball on a tee requires bending of a golfer's back. This repeated bending to place the ball is tiresome and even potentially hazardous, especially for elderly golfers or golfers with back or weight problems.
A golf ball placement device provides an efficient and less tiresome method for placing golf balls. Another benefit of the golf ball placement device is that the golfer can maintain his stance and grip in the same position when hitting successive balls. The ability to maintain stance and grip improves concentration and provides a repetitive stroke capability which is often beneficial in a practice session.
A number of golf ball placement devices have been developed to assist the golfer in placement up the golf ball during a practice session.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,446 to Eberle discloses a dispenser with a movable arm maintained in spring tension. The arm pivots in a horizontal plane and includes a dispensing head at the fixed end of the dispenser tube to limit the flow of golf balls into the tube. A golfer must rotate the arm with a club and then tilt or rock the dispensing head forward to release the first ball and then rearward to position the ball on the tee and block the other balls. The golf balls have a tendency to jam up in the hopper and the dispensing head is difficult to coordinate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,318 to Jennings discloses a golf ball storage, dispensing and placement device containing a swing tube which can be pulled down by the golfer through a hook on the swing tube using his golf club head. The golf ball is released because of gravity.
A motor driven placement device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,391 to Karr.
This placement device requires a motor and complex gear assembly to position the arm mechanism.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,957,296 and 5,071,131 to Turnidge et al. also disclose a vertical arm for dispensing golf balls. The device includes an operating pedestal and pulley system which moves the arm from an upright position to dispense a golf ball. The device includes an upper and lower golf ball stop to prevent more than one ball at a time from entering the guide track.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,614 to Tange discloses a vertical arm with a return spring. Tange describes the frequent problem of golf ball jams in the storage hopper of a golf ball placement device. The golf ball dispenser shown in Tange includes internal baffles with a zigzag vertically rising single column to eliminate the possibility of balls jamming in the storage hopper.
Another golf ball placement device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,107 to Park. The arm is motorized and moves only in a horizontal direction. A guide wire is used to maintain the ball on the arm until the ball is positioned above the tee.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,325 to Smith discloses a movable channel arm which the golfer must push down to dispense a golf ball. Smith also discloses an agitator, which moves every time a golf ball is dispensed, to prevent golf balls from jamming.
Although a number of golf ball placement devices are known, a multitude of mechanisms and installation requirements result in complex operations. The devices are expensive and difficult to maintain such that few golf ball placement device have achieved success in the market place. Many of them are also too heavy and bulky to be portable.
It is therefore an objective of certain embodiments of the present invention to provide a golf ball placement device that is lightweight and portable.
It is another object of certain embodiments of the invention to provide a golf ball placement device which can position one golf ball at a time.
Another object of certain embodiments of the present invention is to provide a golf ball placement device which can dispense a number of balls from a golf ball container without jamming the balls.
A further object of certain embodiments of the present invention is to provide a golf ball placement device which requires a minimum amount of force to be actuated to dispense a golf ball.
These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent from the summary and detailed description of the invention which follow.